2016 Nittany Valley Running Club Indoor Mile #4

February 5, 2016University Park, PA

The fourth and final NVRC Indoor Mile Series meet was a smashing success, even if no records were smashed. 60 runners in 3 heats of the mile and a heat of the 3K, plus another great Ability Athlete event, with three athletes and 3 pacers taking part. In the Ability Athlete heat, Brett Gravatt, paced by Bryan Moon, improved his time in the "mile plus" by nearly 10 seconds. I say "mile plus" because Brett pushes his chair out in lane three due to the tight turns on the indoor track, and hence ends up pushing about 100 meters more than a mile! Joining the pushing, Josh Cone pushed the ever-smiling Jessica Stetson in a stroller just hair faster than he did last week. I don't think anyone has a better time at the track than Jessica. And Michael Renz paced Barron Berg as Berg finished his mile in 5:40.29.

The mile heats were scrambled to try to accommodate runners who wanted to double with the mile and the 3K. The first heat was the "medium-fast" heat. Mark Puleo, who would later win the 3K, finished first in 4:37.49. Tim Appman and Raymond Friend, both also doubling in the 3K, were second and third in 4:42.18 and 4:44.08, respectively. Notably, Noemie Noullet finished in 5:10.45 to seal the womens Series crown, and Mike Zimmerman PRed in 5:08.68.

In the second heat, Rita Marie Concannon was first in 5:37.61. Jake Clements came in second in 5:40.24, and Jo Ohm, who was to do the 3K later, was third in 5:42.17. Meira Minard sewed up the women's masters Series crown finishing in 5:47.14. Mike Martin finally made the goal of his last two seasons and easily cruised to a sub-6 time, finishing in 5:57.33.

The fast heat was significantly faster this week than previous weeks. Not enough for any Series records, but great times. Will Appman almost broke the 4:20 barrier, finishing first in 4:20.92. Doug Jordan was second in 4:27.92, and John Lacy was third in 4:30.88. Bob Chandler clinched the men's masters win with his sub-4:50 time of 4:48.88. There were some great "photo finishes" at the tail end of this race, with several pairs of runners finishing within hundredths of a second of each other.

The 3K heat was big, 16 runners, and fast, with 9 runners under 10 minutes. Mark Puleo finished strong to take first in 9:20.86. Max Petrosky was second in 9:24.20, and Tim Appman was third in 9:38.85. Two women ran the 3K with Mary Higgins finishing first in 11:26.36 and Jo Ohm coming in second in 11:46.76.

The Predicted Time Contest was surprisingly close this year. Doug Jordan was only 0.02 seconds off, coming in on the high side of his prediction of 4:27.9. And Tari Helmers was only 0.09 seconds away from 5:55. No one has ever nailed their time exactly, but Mike Zimmerman's record of 0.01 still stands.

It was a great Series this year. The addition of Ability Athlete heats was a fine addition to event. We'll be seeing more of that in coming years, I'm sure. No records broken this year, but that's mostly because there isn't any low hanging fruit. Maybe Meira Minard will come back next year and take a crack at the women's masters 3K...

Ability Atheltes, pacers, and pushers getting ready.

Jessica Stetson enjoying the fast pace set by Josh Cone.

Returning Mens Indoor Mile Series champ Will Appman

Women's Indoor Mile Series winner Noemie Noullet.

Bob Chandler ran all 4 Indoor Mile races and won the Mens Masters First Prize